Profit vs. politics

There's been an interesting shift in the subject matter of my Google stem cell alerts--they suddenly seem to focus on stem cell companies, the very entity that people were quoting as a reason not to increase federal funding of stem cell research. Many have suggested that stem cell research in the U.S. doesn't need federal funding because U.S. companies are not investing in it, so it's not a practical venture. Whether it's the time of year or the change in focus of the people at Google, companies investing in stem cell research--both adult and embryonic--are making the news.

Two issues are being discussed:

• Will companies that have international ties, perhaps to one of those institutions that does research on "non-approved" stem cell lines, prosper?
• Will big pharma have to do its stem cell research outside of the U.S. to overcome the current political and moral  restrictions?

Given the current demands on federal funding, including the costs of Katrina and Rita, and the new go-to-the-moon-again project, perhaps Congress and the President could simply release the restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research. Doing this without actually funding anything would acknowledge the current support for this research but not further drain the country's funds.

Marie Godfrey, PhD